Thorburn: Today is no red letter day

A sea of red has been replaced by thousands of empty seats at Folsom Field.

If Colorado, which enters the 2012 finale with a 1-10 record, pulled off an upset against Nebraska today it would appease the frothing fan base and perhaps save some jobs at the Dal Ward Center.

But the No. 14 Huskers (9-2) are busy playing a corny rivalry game against Iowa today with a chance to earn a spot in the Big Ten championship game.

The No. 124 Buffs (1-10) have to beat their new "rivalry week" foe, Utah, to avoid the program's worst record since the 0-4 campaign that kicked the sport off under the Flatirons back in 1890.

The move to the Pac-12 has resulted in a greener pasture for the athletic department and helped Tad Boyle create a top-25 basketball program.

Meanwhile, Jon Embree can only circle the Utes in red and hope to avoid overseeing the first CU team to go winless at Folsom Field.

Utah is a 23-point favorite. That's actually good news considering the Buffs have lost their previous seven Pac-12 encounters by an average score of 50.7 to 12.1.

"I don't know if this will ever become a true rivalry just because they will always have BYU that they go against," Embree said. "So I don't know if that will ever replace that, but it can still be a game of importance for both programs."

Actually, thanks to realignment, Utah doesn't play BYU in 2013 or 2014.

And unlike last season when the Buffs pulled off the upset in Salt Lake City to knock the Utes out of the Pac-12 championship game, today's game is meaningless in the standings.

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Utah (4-7) isn't even playing for bowl eligibility after losing to Arizona at home last week.

"When it is truly a rivalry game, records, none of that stuff matters," Embree said. "You want to beat that team because of who they are. We are not quite there yet with Utah, and I'm sure they would say the same thing about us.

"Hopefully over time, things will transpire that will help both fans get that sense of each other that it becomes a game of that magnitude for each other."

Time is running out already.

Embree's 4-20 record has an angry mob demanding that he is fired after today's game.

More likely, the administration will retain Embree for a third season if he agrees to make some major changes on his staff.

That will probably include the firing of defensive coordinator Greg Brown and a forced retirement for loyal CU assistant Brian Cabral. Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, one of Embree's best friends who is on the short list of the greatest Buffs of all time, could be asked to accept a demotion or turn in his office keys.

Shoulder to shoulder?

After this season someone has to should the blame.

"I look at it as growing pains, but I take all responsibility," Embree said. "It is still not good enough."

At least the Buffs were consistent this season.

CU is ranked last nationally in scoring offense (16.3 ppg) and scoring defense (46.4 ppg), as well as third from the bottom in total offense (292.3 ypg) and total defense (502.4 ypg).

It sounds like the Utes wouldn't even take much joy in a victory today.

"To have them come in and beat us was disappointing and you have to give them credit, they played their best game of the year, but is there revenge?" Utah coach Kyle Whittingham told the Salt Lake Tribune. "I'm not sure about that."

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